Table 1.
General and disease characteristics of controls and patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) overall and NHL subtypes
| Characteristic/disease | Controls, no. (%)* | All NHLs, no. (%)* | DLBCL, no. (%)* | CLL, no. (%)* | FL, no. (%)* | NHL subtypes MCL, no. (%)* | MZL, no. (%)* | LPL, no. (%)* | TCL, no. (%)* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SCALE participants overall | 3187 (100) | 3055 (100) | 796 (100) | 752 (100) | 586 (100) | 148 (100) | 117 (100) | 116 (100) | 204 (100) |
| Age, y | |||||||||
| 18 to 44 | 576 (18) | 334 (10) | 131 (16) | 21 (3) | 73 (12) | 4 (3) | 8 (7) | 4 (4) | 57 (28) |
| 45 to 54 | 597 (19) | 587 (19) | 143 (18) | 138 (18) | 141 (24) | 26 (18) | 22 (19) | 16 (14) | 38 (19) |
| 55 to 64 | 906 (28) | 1011 (33) | 247 (31) | 257 (34) | 206 (35) | 52 (35) | 41 (35) | 48 (41) | 54 (26) |
| 65 to 74 | 1108 (35) | 1123 (37) | 275 (35) | 336 (45) | 166 (28) | 66 (45) | 46 (39) | 48 (41) | 55 (27) |
| Median (range) | 59 (18-76) | 60 (18-74) | 60 (19-74) | 63 (30-74) | 57·5 (22-74) | 63 (34-74) | 62 (26-74) | 62 (28-74) | 55 (18-74) |
| Sex | |||||||||
| Male | 1767 (55) | 1819 (60) | 474 (60) | 480 (64) | 279 (48) | 112 (76) | 57 (49) | 75 (65) | 128 (63) |
| Female | 1420 (45) | 1236 (40) | 322 (40) | 272 (36) | 307 (52) | 36 (24) | 60 (51) | 41 (35) | 76 (37) |
| Country of residence | |||||||||
| Denmark | 1186 (37) | 1075 (35) | 283 (36) | 296 (39) | 222 (38) | 54 (36) | 49 (42) | 50 (43) | 77 (38) |
| Sweden | 2001 (63) | 1980 (65) | 513 (64) | 456 (61) | 364 (62) | 94 (64) | 68 (58) | 66 (57) | 127 (62) |
| Tick bite (self-reported) | |||||||||
| No | 1853 (59) | 1736 (58) | 454 (59) | 422 (57) | 355 (61) | 81 (55) | 68 (60) | 63 (55) | 127 (64) |
| Yes | 1263 (41) | 1248 (42) | 319 (41) | 318 (43) | 224 (39) | 65 (45) | 46 (40) | 51 (45) | 71 (36) |
| Borrelia infection (self-reported) | |||||||||
| No | 3082 (98) | 2928 (97) | 766 (97) | 722 (97) | 561 (97) | 138 (94) | 117 (100) | 111 (96) | 194 (96) |
| Yes | 78 (2) | 102 (3) | 26 (3) | 23 (3) | 19 (3) | 9 (6) | — | 5 (4) | 8 (4) |
| Time since Borrelia infection | |||||||||
| Less than 1 y | 9 (12) | 13 (13) | 4 (16) | 4 (17) | 2 (11) | — | — | — | 1 (11) |
| 1 to 4 y | 30 (39) | 44 (44) | 9 (36) | 9 (39) | 12 (63) | 4 (50) | — | 1 (20) | 5 (56) |
| 5 to 9 y | 20 (26) | 18 (18) | 4 (16) | 7 (30) | 2 (11) | 2 (25) | — | 1 (20) | 1 (11) |
| 10 to 14 y | 11 (14) | 12 (12) | 3 (12) | 2 (9) | 2 (11) | 2 (25) | — | — | 1 (11) |
| More than 15 y | 6 (8) | 14 (14) | 5 (20) | 1 (4) | 1 (5) | — | — | 3 (60) | 1 (11) |
| Anti-Borrelia antibodies† | |||||||||
| Negative | 1310 (97) | 1504 (95) | 332 (95) | 563 (96) | 347 (96) | 74 (86) | 66 (97) | 4 (100) | 111 (97) |
| Positive | 44 (3) | 73 (5) | 18 (5) | 23 (4) | 13 (4) | 12 (14) | 2 (3) | — | 3 (3) |
DLBCL indicates diffuse large B-cell lymphoma; CLL, chronic lymphocytic leukemia; FL, follicular lymphoma; MCL, mantle cell lymphoma; MZL, marginal zone lymphoma; LPL, lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma; and TCL, T-cell lymphoma.
*
Numbers may not add up due to missing information or minor NHL subtypes not included in the subtype analyses.
†
Borrelia-specific IgG antibodies were analyzed in serum samples of 1579 cases with NHL and 1358 matched controls; in 6 participants (2 cases and 4 controls) serologic analyses yielded inconclusive results and were excluded.